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" After finishing my undergraduate work at the University of Iowa, where I took creative writing classes taught by Writer's Workshop students, I applied to half a dozen MFA writing programs. "

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" Many non-believers who have entered substance abuse programs have found themselves at odds with the religious overtones prevalent in the recovery industry. "

Andrew Shaffer

Abuse

Substance

Who

" Visibility is one of the most difficult parts of the self-publishing equation. No matter how great your book is, it is fighting against a tidal wave of cheap ebooks on Amazon. "

" Everybody has a breaking point. It's tough to ignore the impulse to respond with anger. "

" Cremer's 'Nightshade' is a smart blend of romance, action, philosophy, and pagan witchcraft. And, yes, high-schoolers shape-shifting into wolves. "

" Every published writer, myself included, was at one time unpublished. All writers know what rejection feels like. "

" It's easy to feel spurned, especially when you return to your apartment and stare at the hundreds of rejection letters tacked to your bulletin board. "

" It's not always caving to pressure: Sometimes criticism hits close to home; sometimes criticism changes our minds about something we've put out into the world. "

" 'Anthems' was a harsh indictment of American foreign policy; the video for the first single featured an American flag engulfed in a pool of oil, imagery which might have been risque in 2002, but seemed unimaginably passe in the last year of Bush's presidency. "

" The higher a book's sales ranks, the better chances it has of being noticed by Amazon's internal recommendations engine. "

" 'First Step 2 Forever' is a hardcover, multi-colored monstrosity that clocks in at 240 pages... half of which feature full-page pictures of the 16-year-old Bieber. "

" Barnes & Noble, along with other independent bookstores, are refusing to stock Amazon Publishing titles. They'll order books from the online retail giant if customers ask, but bookstores have so far declined to be 'showrooms' for Amazon. "

" If you can pay enough people to buy your .99 ebook and review it positively, and crack one of Amazon's bestseller lists, readers are going to check it out. Especially at a low price point like .99. Customers are suckers for the fallacy that the cream rises to the top. "

Andrew Shaffer

Enough

You

" While I've never asked my publisher to pull one of my books off the shelves, I have deleted tweets or blog posts that have drawn criticism. "

" Buying reviews of ebooks that include downloads is a well-known way to 'juice' an ebook's sales rank and attract new readers. "

" This is a common misconception about antidepressants: many people believe they're simply 'happy pills' that will wipe a person's emotional slate clean. Used correctly, antidepressants can lift the fog of mental illness. "

" As a writer who has struggled with depression, the question is one that has long troubled me. Should I resist treatment, on the off-chance my creative output will somehow be affected? "

Andrew Shaffer

Creative

Depression

" With traditional publishing, books might be pulled due to plagiarism or libel - but rarely for content, and especially not without a widespread outcry. "

" Instead of silencing artists, is it possible that antidepressants can actually help them vocalize their creative ambitions? "

" I catch Filter in Des Moines doing their soundcheck at a small club. After tearing through a few songs, they spend nearly an hour meeting with fans as part of a radio station meet-and-greet. "

" When Patrick finally broke his silence with 2008's 'Anthems For the Damned' - the first Filter album that he recorded sober - fans were decidedly lukewarm. "

" Way before musicians and actors cornered the market on misbehavior, writers were flooding hotel rooms and testing their livers' upper limits. "

" Christmas sits like a black hole on the calendar. Just try scheduling a meeting at work the month of December. "

" Celebrating Christmas without subscribing to Christianity is like watching the Super Bowl without watching a regular season game. Some people watch the Super Bowl for the commercials; others watch it for the halftime show. "

" Once an ebook hits the Kindle Top 100, sales tend to snowball as new customers discover it in greater numbers. "